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CLINT IMBODEN
Born 1953, St. Louis, MO
Lives in Oakland, CA

Clint Imboden is a San Francisco Bay Area based 3D artist. His sculptural work currently juxtaposes text with hand tools and toys from the mid 20th century to address social and political topics. Clint’s larger installations manifest his obsessive collecting and love of repeated forms  by transforming hundreds of an object into abstract shapes.

Growing up in St. Louis, both of Clint’s parents fostered a love of collecting, kitsch and Americana in their son. Part of his weekly art making practice is visiting local flea markets to add to his collections of nostalgic blue-collar materials.

Imboden’s work can be found in public collections both nationally and internationally, including, the San Antonio Museum of Art (TX), Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (Colombia), the Milwaukee Art Museum (WI), the di Rosa Preserve (CA), and the Alameda County Public Art Collection (CA).

Imboden has been commissioned by the SF Curran (CA), Hyatt Place Hotel (CA), and Sherwood Design Partners (CA).

ARTIST STATEMENT

I visit flea markets and estate sales almost daily, searching for everyday objects that draw me in: old shoes, dusty rolling pins, rusty shovels, vintage rulers and odd bric brac. These overlooked objects come home to my Oakland studio. Some items, such as screwdrivers and measuring tapes, I end up with hundreds in my trove.

In my studio, these neglected objects are transformed into sculptures and installations. My work is deeply material-based; the objects I collect are used for their connotative or narrative potential to address social commentary and political topics. In the wake of Donald Trump’s election in 2016, I started exploring laser etching, carving text into objects already pregnant with meaning.

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